Do you enjoy body horror movies, such as Coralie Fargeat’s 2024 film “The Substance”? Do grotesque transformations into hideous monsters pique your interest? If you answered yes, then David Cronenberg’s 1986 adaptation of “The Fly” should be right up your alley.
The dialogue of “The Fly” is a little unbearable and cheesy at times, but the two main characters deliver the lines as best as possible because of their legendary actors — Geena Davis, best known for her role as Barbara in “Beetlejuice” (1988), and Jeff Goldblum, famous for his portrayal of Dr. Ian Malcom in “Jurassic Park” (1993). However, the poor screenwriting still begs the question of whether the movie actually is a masterpiece or not. I enjoy films that are in the “so bad it’s good” genre, and while I myself wouldn’t categorize “The Fly” as a corny film, I know other people who would. That being said, while some parts may be cheesy, they are still too small and unimportant to ruin one’s view of the entire movie. If you appreciate “The Fly” for what it is — a bizarre sci-fi horror film — and not for what it aims to be, I guarantee you will enjoy it.
The original 1958 film was about a tragic romance between André Delambre (David Hedison) and his wife, Helen (Patricia Owens). The tragedy occurs when André, a mad scientist, accidentally combines his DNA with that of a fly, swapping his head with the fly’s and vice versa. This plot was more weird than scary, because seeing the head of a fly on a human is just plain wacky.
Spoiler Warning:
The 1986 adaptation either scrapped or shifted nearly every aspect of the original, converting the two main characters from previously married to now only love interests.
That being said, the creature — like everything else that was kept — has been drastically altered in the 1986 adaptation. Instead of the incidental DNA splice simply swapping body parts between the fly and the scientist, like in the original, it causes the scientist to slowly lose control of his own humanity. His skin becomes discolored and shows an excess of sores. Over time, the human flesh begins peeling off, making way for the hard exoskeleton of a fly. He notices an extreme loss of weight, as well as superhuman stamina and strength. His personality becomes erratic and unstable, transforming him from a scientific genius into a deranged madman. This causes him to make senseless decisions and perform absurd actions — one of which is attempting to fuse his DNA with his girlfriend’s in an attempt to stop the fly transformation and create a new human-like entity.
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All in all, this is an excellent horror movie, and I would give it a 7.5/10.